in heat (sort of)
by partlysunny
Summary: in which there is lavabending, a lot of sweat, some swearing, and heat of a different kind.


in heat (sort of)

She can't get the hang of lavabending.

It's unbelievable, she knows. She's the goddamn Avatar, she's supposed to be naturally inclined to bending of all sorts, even shady bending learned from an anarchist who'd been hunting her down for one half of his life and rotting in prison for the other half. But when she gets down to it, takes deep breaths, finds her center, all that jazz, she just can't do it. The lava splits into fire and earth and she carries one element on each hand and a look of complete disappointment on her face.

Bolin is a natural.

He wields it like he's been doing it his entire life. The steady, solid footwork of an earthbender, sharp and sudden movements, hands clenched into fists and muscles tightening and releasing under his shirt, it all fades away when he's bending lava. She sees fluidity in his stance. His arms are relaxed. His feet skim the ground, like he's afraid of standing too still with such a volatile element in his control. She watches him from a distance, because he's still new at this and she'd rather not get burned, thanks, but she sort of knows he won't burn anything he doesn't mean to.

"You're pretty good at this," she comments, trying to remain aloof, but he sees right through her. His eyes have a different kind of glow in them these days. It reminds her of how she feels when she learns a new bending move that's been giving her grief. She finds herself smiling even though she's covered in sweat and her arms are sore from trying to bend unbendable lava.

"Yeah?" he says. He shrugs like it's no big deal. Behind him, a lake of lava slowly hardens. Heat rises in waves. He looks like he's shimmering before it. "Yeah, I'm pretty good. Good enough to be the only living person able to lavabend, I mean, it's _pretty good_."

She rolls her eyes. He hops onto the rock she's sitting on and runs his hands through his hair, and beads of sweat fall on her face so she shoves him.

"I've been watching you," he tells her, and something like a thrill runs through her. "You treat the lava like it's earth. It isn't earth. It's lava."

He pushes her off the rock and slides down after her, then gets into a battle ready stance, standing on the balls of his feet, his arms out before him. She copies him.

"No, your arms are too stiff." He puts his hands over hers, his big and warm and coated with dirt, and shakes her arms until her muscles unclench. "It's like… it's like waterbending. Lava is more fluid than earth. You try to bend the earth in it, but you have to understand that it's also kind of like water. It should be easier for you, since you can bend both elements, but I have to find the earth in it."

He lets her hands go. They feel cold right away. "Waterbending," she repeats. "Gotcha. Okay. Here goes."

The lava separates again. She drops the boulder she accidentally forms from the lava and lets the fire burn out. Bolin is trying not to laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, enjoy the moment," she says, aiming a kick at his shin that he neatly dodges. "This is the first and only time you'll ever best me at anything, ever."

He laughs. "Don't I know it."

"How did you even—" She tries again and fails, and she lets out a roar of frustration.

"Hey, yeah, that's good," he says suddenly. "Scream. Get angry. The lava needs you to be more alive than it is, or it won't respond to you."

"That doesn't make any sense, Bo."

"Wow, and they say you're supposed to be the spiritual type."

She scoffs. "Okay, I'll get angry." And she screams. Anger is easy to come by when she's covered in sweat and her hair's sticking to the back of her neck. She's a Pole girl. She wasn't built for temperatures this high, damn it. But it doesn't work. The rocks fall to one side, the fire fizzles out, and Bolin can wield the lava like the best of them. "Shit!"

"Maybe not anger, then," he mutters. "Korra?"

"What?" She turns towards him and he kisses her. She's burning up and pissed off and when he cuts her off mid-word the heat only gets worse. His mouth is hot, his breath like fire, his hand spread out over her back, pressing her closer. She thinks her heart's gonna explode. She can almost hear it beating in her ears.

He pulls away and pushes her toward the lava, and she throws her hand out automatically and it rises to her call, a big ball of flaming red and yellow and orange, like sunset and sorbet and the feeling inside her right now. She lowers it carefully back down to the earth and stands there to consider her victory. Behind her, Bolin claps slowly, an obscene smile on his face. She rounds on him. She really does try to look indignant but she can't help the smile. Must be the heat.

He gives a shrug like, "Hey, it worked," and his mouth is still pink from how hard he pressed it against her. They look at each other for a second. Then,

"I might need some more encouragement if I'm gonna properly learn this," she says.

He nods so fast she swears she hears something in his neck crack. "I'm a great teacher."

.


End file.
